Butterflies Flying in Missouri in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Missouri in October in our iNaturalist sample; 3 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in October

Monarch715 obs.

Common Buckeye421 obs.

Painted Lady388 obs.

Fiery Skipper384 obs.

Huron Skipper317 obs.

Pearl Crescent284 obs.

Orange Sulphur212 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper171 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur170 obs.

Eastern Comma143 obs.

Small White138 obs.

Variegated Fritillary135 obs.

All butterflies flying in Missouri in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	715	Sep (past peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	421	Sep (past peak)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	388	Sep (past peak)
4	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	384	Sep (past peak)
5	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	317	Sep (past peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	284	Sep (past peak)
7	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	212	Oct (peak)
8	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	171	Oct (peak)
9	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	170	Sep (past peak)
10	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	143	Sep (past peak)
11	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	138	Sep (past peak)
12	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	135	Sep (past peak)
13	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	134	Sep (past peak)
14	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	111	Sep (past peak)
15	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	109	Sep (past peak)
16	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	108	Jul (past peak)
17	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	107	Aug (past peak)
18	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	102	Sep (past peak)
19	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	96	Sep (past peak)
20	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	80	Sep (past peak)
21	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	58	Apr (past peak)
22	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	52	Jul (past peak)
23	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	50	Aug (past peak)
24	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	48	Jun (past peak)
25	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	44	Aug (past peak)
26	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Sep (past peak)
27	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	37	Aug (past peak)
28	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	35	Apr (past peak)
29	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	34	May (past peak)
30	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	30	Oct (peak)
31	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	29	Aug (past peak)
32	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	25	Jul (past peak)
33	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	23	Sep (past peak)
34	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	21	Aug (past peak)
35	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	19	Sep (past peak)
36	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	16	Sep (past peak)
37	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	15	Sep (past peak)
38	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Sep (past peak)
39	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Mar (past peak)
40	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Mar (past peak)
41	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	10	Aug (past peak)
42	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	9	Jul (past peak)
43	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	8	Sep (past peak)
44	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Jul (past peak)
45	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Aug (past peak)
46	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	7	Jul (past peak)
47	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	5	Sep (past peak)
48	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
49	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	5	Aug (past peak)
50	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Sep (past peak)